Inside the palace on Amazon Lily.
A lavish banquet was underway.
Hancock warmly invited Pero and Kuzan to sit beside her.
But just as Kuzan was about to take the seat next to Hancock...
He sensed a murderous aura. Looking up, he found Hancock staring at him with icy eyes.
Kuzan shuddered.
So Snake Princess Hancock had her sights set on Pero. He couldn't afford to get on her bad side.
Frightened, he hastily stepped back twice, yielding the seat to Pero.
Pero raised an eyebrow. Seeing Hancock's face suddenly flush, he said little and sat down beside her.
Behind Boa Hancock, the empress of Amazon Lily, stood her two younger sisters, Boa Sandersonia and Boa Marigold.
The female warriors then served Amazon Lily's finest specialty dishes.
Roasted meat made from the Lord of the Coast gave off a tempting aroma.
Wine brewed from the island's native fruits was crisp and sweet.
Kuzan looked at the delicacies before him and marveled inwardly.
So this was the heavenly life Borsalino had been living while following Pero? It certainly suited Kizaru's clock-out-on-time personality.
He didn't stand on ceremony, reaching for the roast meat and wine and beginning to eat and drink.
Every so often, he would glance out of the corner of his eye at Pero beside him, and at the perpetually distracted empress beside Pero.
"My, my... this really is something... to think Empress Hancock would one day get caught in such a baffling whirlpool."
As the second and third "honored guests" the empress had invited in all these years, Pero and Kuzan naturally became a topic of conversation among the citizens over their meals.
In a corner of the banquet hall, several young Kuja warriors gathered together, whispering.
"Hey... what do you think Lady Snake Princess... is thinking?"
"Exactly.